LAHORE: The World Bank has attached conditions with the financing deal for building the 4,320MW Dasu hydropower project, which will delay execution of the project and the increase the cost significantly, sources said.
The present management of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) is pursuing the same strategy that was adopted as a result of strategically flawed decision taken by the then Wapda chairman Shakil Durrani, casting shadow over the construction of Dasu hydropower project, they said.
Owing to Wapda’s acceptance of the World Bank-sponsored plan to build Dasu hydropower project in phases, its construction will now take 18 years to complete, ie, in 2027 and will face cost escalation of at least around $5bn to $6bn, the sources said.
Instead of producing 4,320MW after seven years of construction, the revised project will attain this level of generation after 18 years.
The project will remain practically closed every year in summers due to high silt rate soon after completion if it is built before the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam, which is proposed to be built upstream in a cascading format, the sources said.
The World Bank presented both the options of building Dasu hydropower project in phases and completing it without Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Durrani-led Wapda accepted such conditions to get around $500m worth of loan. The main thrust behind changes in the design of Dasu hydropower project is loan offered by the bank, they said. The domestic hydropower sector has already shown dismal performance over the years with no success story in the last several decades.
By accepting the World Bank plan, the Wapda management laid foundation of spoiling both Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Dasu hydropower project, they said, adding that such a change in the project design was incorporated to avail of the financing offer made by the World Bank, which is a shameful act, the sources said.
Despite the fact that local consultant opposed the World Bank proposal on technical grounds, the then Wapda management accepted it.
Internews
